I LOVE COMICS 3000, Part Fourteen

 I’ve been numbering my entries, picking up where I left off with the 2,021 COMIC BOOK QUARANTINE ODYSSEY.  I’m curious to see how long it takes me to read that many comics. I want the results to be realistic so I’m not going to binge read unless I happen to be in the mood.  There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t end up reading some comics, so we’ll see how long this takes. The journey began with the 1,000 Comics Challenge on approximately March 15, 2020.

#359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364  THE DOLLHOUSE FAMILY #1-6 (DC Black Label/Hill House, 2019-2020) I haven’t decided yet which of the Hill House titles is my favorite, but this is a strong contender. M.R. (Mike) Carey and Peter Gross team up again to portray a creepy story of a possessed doll house apparently influenced by  a Lovecraftian Elder God. If you’ve read this and also watched the doll house episode of CREEPSHOW on AMC TV, then you might develop an aversion to those large toys with furniture and decorated rooms and little figures inside that dominate a childs’ bedroom or playroom. 

Throughout the six-issue series, Carey and Gross continue to build on the strangeness, jumping back and forth between timelines to tell the story. It begins in 1826 Ireland during a geological mapping survey. Joseph Kent (huh!) finds an above ground cave that descends quickly, gets lost for three days, finds a rock-like sleeping giant and is lured into sex with the witch who resides there. 

In 1979 London young Alice (apt choice of name, considering what happens to her) inherits a dollhouse from her great aunt, tracing back in family history to an 1828 gift from Jospeh Kent to his son. The dollhouse is birthed at the same time as Kent’s son, Cordwainer. Having living doll-sized inhabitants accumulating over two centuries and residing in the doll house is weird enough, but Alice learns how to shrink down and join them for awhile before returning to normal size. They become inseparable, and when an abusive family relationships goes awry, Alice becomes orphaned  with her only remaining possession - - the dollhouse. The true force behind the dollhouse seeks to dominate Alice and her descendants in awful ways (murder, bombing, mysterious disappearances, accidents involving missing limbs, and twisted bargains with demonic forces). Alice has to track down the mystery and confront her past before things can return to near-normal. Hope I didn’t give too much away, but I wanted to indicate the wonderful complexity of the story. I’ve still left out the clever interweaving of contemporary themes for you to discover, as well as some truly horrific yet fascinating scenes. FIVE STARS. 

#365  GRUMBLE: MEMPHIS & BEYOND THE INFINITE #2  (Albatross Funnybooks, June 2020) This takes place on a world where magic and aliens exist, continuing from the first GRUMBLE series. Some of the magic from that first series has worn off for me, but I’m still enjoying this - just not as much. The unlikely duo (magic girl with elven ears, con man turned into talking dog) lead a team via portal to the alien planetary fortress on a rescue mission, and things get messed up as usual. If you’re a fan of Rafer Robert’s quirky humor or the fantastic art of Mike Norton you may like this. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.

#366  KILLADELPHIA #6 (Image, June 2020) The Philadelphia police have to quash a vampire uprising, led by the reigning king of vampires - - former President John Adams. Adams may have picked two of the wrong people to turn into vampires, a ghetto rebel with a special power and a former cop, father of the main character who dug him up for assistance. There’s some strong messages here about power and oppression that are well said, and it’s a satisfactory ending - for now. A new threat has emerged. Get ready for Issue #7.  FOUR STARS. 

#367  THE LOW LOW WOODS #5 (DC Black Label/Hill House) I can’t decide if this story is meant to be an allegory for small town oppression of gays, lesbians, and transsexuals or just two converging storylines. Anyway, the characterizations are authentic and not stereotypes. The two young girls who seem to be the only ones aware of the reoccurring strangeness in their small town may have uncovered the explanation of it all in the backstory of a now closed resort lodge with a shady past. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.

#368  MOUNTAINHEAD  #4 of 5  (IDW, November 2019) Despite the already printed release date, this just came out recently as the book is behind schedule albeit the virus is partly responsible. This began as a warming tale of a young boy from a strange family finding forced refuge as a member of an equally strange family of foster children in a remote village at the base of a wintry mountain. Struggles to blend in dominated early issues, as the family and the town itself were just a bit strange, for example forced smiles and cheeriness. Each issue introduced a new element of strangeness, including a manic father trying to find his son and reconnect, culminating in this penultimate issue. It’s Invasion Of The Body Snatchers on a Godzilla-scale. All the more chilling because of the build-up to now. FOUR AND ONE-HALF STARS.

#369  OLD HAUNTS #1 of 5 (AWA/Upshot, June 2020)  Three wealthy gangsters revisit the scene of their crime/beginnings when one member announces his retirement. There’s a lot of bodies buried on the outskirts of town, all marked by the strange nickel and dime marked coins keeping their eyelids closed. As the trio of oldsters reminisce and argue, ghostly visions appear concluding with the presence of a supernatural vulture.

A slow build, but I’m very curious. I’m always interested in a blend of crime and horror. FOUR STARS. 

#370  OUTER DARKNESS/CHEW #2 of 3 (Image, April 2020) Tony Chu the food detective has been transported to the starship in the OUTER DARKNESS series to act as translator to an alien that only communicates through dining. This issue really breaks the fourth wall in amusing ways, as the ship’s exorcist explains to Chu that he’s only a comic book character in the OUTER DARKNESS universe. Even the CHEW creative team ends up playing a role in the proceedings. The supporting cast from CHEW shows up (as holograms) forcing FDA agent John Colby to adjust the holocomputer settings to “non-Guillory”. (Both Rob Guillory and Afu Chan split the art chores.) There’s just enough explanation here for readers unfamiliar with both books to follow the story, although the insider jokes won’t seem as funny. FOUR AND ONE-HALF STARS.  

#371  ROUGE PLANET #1 (Oni Press, April 2020)The opening credits page puts forward a definition of a rogue planet to help set the scene: A celestial body not bound to a star. Expelled from the planetary system in which they formed. Abandoned.  The opening teaser scene shows an alien race (resembling the standard image of extraterrestials) involved in sacrifice to a massive, bulbous image of their god. Cut to the space-faring salvage vessel Cortes and it’s culturally diverse, mixed race crew of eight as they receive a transmission about a payload on the nearest planet. While suspicious in nature, they make a landing and set out with an armored search party. Mountainous alien terrain to traverse, huge glowing crystals that emit heat, and a trail that ends in a graveyard of ships and a monstrous being that moves like a python and quickly surrounds the crew.  It all happens very quickly in the first issue. FOUR STARS.

#372  THE RESISTANCE #1 (AWA/Upshot, March 2020) Yes, I did include this in my posts way back in late March. I wanted to read it again after remembering something I read online or in a text piece that THE RESISTANCE was meant to be the lynchpin for the AWA Universe, and all the other titles would link back to this one.  I went back to some of those earlier AWA books looking for evidence of this, and while Alex Alonso alludes to a shared universe he never directly says that all the titles will be linked.  I needed to read RESISTANCE again to see if I could spot those threads, because so far all the AWA books give me the impression of taking place in stand-alone worlds. 

The opening of this is so prophetic of our current situation (a global virus threatens to wipe out all but 5% of the population) - - thankfully things haven’t gotten to the extremes depicted here, as well as some of the extreme solutions.  All science-deniers and skeptics should read this one  - - no, everybody should read this. It’s so damn good. 

The double page center spread is especially dramatic, as are it’s words: “We have learned our lesson and we will do better. We will cease our vanity and embrace our brothers and sisters in all their forms and features and love war no more. Just spare us . . . in this our darkest hour, spare us. Merciful God, save us. Solemn science, save us. Someone. Anyone. Save us.” Then, the virus takes a pause. Is it done, or just dormant?  A portion of the survivors were charged by the process, and have new abilities as revealed in the final pages. Wow. 

There is so much power in this issue, before Straczynski drops the bomb and adds this new layer. I’d much rather he stayed with the former but I’m still interested to see what kind of super-heroes, etc. emerge here. Also, a third political party emerges and it’s candidate becomes the next POTUS, looking like a dead ringer for actor Ed Harris. He immediately diverts federal money to create new domestic military forces. Uh oh. 

Back to my search for a link to AWA titles: Maybe it’s in the final three pages where the lucky few five percent get a one panel shadowy image and one-word description. Except I can’t connect any of these images to the other AWA books without far-fetched speculation. I think these are previews of upcoming characters in THE RESISTANCE.  FIVE STARS.

#373  THE RESISTANCE #2  (AWA/Upshot, June 2020) In the back page editorial content, CCO Alex Alonso states “two years ago, we set out to plant the seeds for a shared universe . . .” However, I’m still not sure all the AWA titles will link. Rather, I think there will be some spin-off titles from THE RESISTANCE that add to the universe that J. Michael Straczynski is building here. Otherwise, the pandemic occurring in this book will somehow have to enter the storyline for RED BORDER, YEAR ZERO, OLD HAUNTS, etc and I don’t see that happening - and hope it doesn’t. 

What I like most about this particular superhero book (yes, I said the dirty word) called THE RESISTANCE is the lack of code names and costumes. I sure hope it stays that way. The new individual abilities introduced here seem familiar yet with a different spin: super-hearing (youngster in Oregon); odor identification and enhanced strength (Sandy Ramirez, Virginia); invulnerability and super-strength (Feyodor Antonovich, Moscow); telepathic communication and foresight (Marguerita, Washington D.C.) Three of these four will form the Resistance.  Meanwhile the governments of the world are aware of the changed five percent and seek both humane (United Nations) and inhumane (Trevor Lane, U.S. president - and a real nasty creep).

 Some of the virus survivors will never develop special abilities; some will try to hide away while some will be all-too visible; and others will have latent powers that once awakened will shorten their life-span to six months - “we call them moths”, followed by a short announcement for MOTHS #1 (aha!). This book is really well done, enhanced by Mike Deodato Jr.’s realistic artwork— and I hope it stays as grounded as it appears to be so far. FOUR STARS.